Arjun Inakollu and the rest of the Hollis Brookline boys tennis team rolled in Monday's opener (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

HUDSON – The Hollis Brookline High School boys tennis team has talked the talk in the preseason.

Monday they more than walked the walk. They ran it in record time.

The Cavaliers, who are determined to get back to the Division II finals after losing to Goffstown last spring, needed just a little more than an hour to dispose of host Alvirne, 9-0, in the chilly season opener for both.

The Cavs lost just six indivdual games, three each in singles and doubles.

That’s pretty efficient for a first match, but the last couple of weeks have been minus any snow so there’s been a lot of outdoor time.

“Very proud of the way we started,” HB coach Celestino Eddie Sepulveda. “This probably our 10th, 11th day on a court this spring. That definitely helps.”

So does seven seniors returning to the lineup. “I’m feeling comfortable with where we are today and the progress we need to make between now and the end of the season.”

And that end, the Cavs hope, will be with them hosting up the Division II trophy right here at the Alvirne courts, already designated as the site of the June 4 finals.

“I think they’re at a similar level (to last year),” Broncos coach Colin Stone said. “And we have a younger squad and we had one player down today who couldn’t play. We have a lot of work to do but they definitely came out strong in the first match.”

HB’s No. 1, Arjun Inakollu, downed Bronco Sam Hergenhahn, 8-2; No. 2 John Torpey beat Samanyu Kudikala 8-0 as did the Cavs’ No. 3, Samuel Anthony, over Samik Dhakal. Alvirne’s Owen Nagel won just one game in bowing 8-1 to Sam Pistor at No.4 while 8-0 wins were recorded by the Cavs’ Greyson McSeveney and Eli Mazzola over Jeronimo Tamayo and Ryan Dussault at Nos. 5 and 6 respectively.

Inakollu teamed with Anthony for an 8-2 win over Hergenhahn and Kudikala, Torpey&Pistor breezed past Dhakal and Dussault 8-0, and HB’s Gavin Mcseveney and Eli Mazzola beat Nagel/Tamayo 8-1.

What’s the difference between this Cavalier team and the one that left Dover High School’s courts last June hungry for another shot at the plaque?

Simple: 10 months.

“Just a little bit more experience,” Sepulveda said. “Having been there before, but again, just taking everything one point at a time.”

Most of the players, Sepulveda said, have gotten better, and Pistor has now moved into a spot on the singles/doubles ladder.

“Nothing is easy in high school sports,” Sepulveda said as a reminder. “Any match can go one way or the other – I wouldn’t count anybody out in this league.”

Especially the Cavs.